


But my Heart was Colder When You Were Gone

by dumplingscomet



Category: Lovely Little Losers, Nothing Much to Do
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Pirate, F/F, M/M, vaguely 17th century style but with magic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2020-07-25
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:47:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25500079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dumplingscomet/pseuds/dumplingscomet
Summary: Costa McClure and the crew of the pirate ship Faustus sail to an island in search of fabled treasure. When they find it , however, they are alarmed to discover one of them must make a sacrifice for true love to avoid the entire crew's death in a matter of three weeks. Crewmate Meg Winter expects a number of strange occurences, but she doesn't expect to lose her heart and watch her whole life turn around
Relationships: Freddie Kingston/Jaquie Manders/Meg Winter, Freddie Kingston/Meg Winter, Jaquie Manders/Meg Winter, Kitso "Kit" Harper/Balthazar Jones, Peter "Pedro" Donaldson/Costa McClure, Ursula & Freddie Kingston, Ursula & Kitso "Kit" Harper & Balthazar Jones
Kudos: 2





	1. The Storm

**Author's Note:**

> if this sounds a lot like a Great Comet fic I posted a while back, you're not wrong. I reworked said story and made it into an nmtd/lolilo fic because I thought it might work better that way

The wind picked up around three in the afternoon, just enough for the _Faustus_ to reach the isle of San Felipe Rey. At the same time, drops of rain began to fall from the clouds into the thick, humid air. By all appearances, the _Faustus_ was any normal merchant ship moving about through the cluster of islands. However - hidden under the shade of the sail - the sight of Meg Winter, the ship’s first mate, wiping the blood off her sword suggested something far more sinister. 

“So where did you hear that there was a mysterious chest of buried treasure on this island, Meg?” asked Peter Donaldson, the helmsman.

“I’ve heard it’s about a quarter mile into the jungle,” Meg replied, setting down the sword.

Several crew members began to emerge from belowdecks as the ship steadied on its anchor, among them Paige Moth, Chelsey Long, and Costa McClure, the captain.

“I’ve heard of gruesome things in that jungle,” Costa said. “Sometimes it’ll get dark all of a sudden and people lose their way and fall into ravines.”

“Oh relax, Costa,” Peter laughed, “People make up lies all the time when they leave treasure on remote islands because they want to come back for it themselves.”

Costa shook his head. “All sorts of unnatural things happen here, and there’s a grain of truth to every rumor, so I’d be careful.”

“All right then,” sighed Meg, “You can stay behind.”

“No, I do want to go,” said Costa, “I’m just encouraging caution.”

“But of course,” said Meg.

“I’d like to stay behind, though,” said Chelsey.

“Feel free,” said Costa. “We need someone to watch the ship, after all.”

The trailhead, according to the map, began with a visible clearing between a few palm trees and bushes, some of them turned odd colors by the changing seasons.

“So there are marks on the trees that tell you where to go, right?” asked Peter. “Is the trail cleared all the way?”

“Most of the way,” Costa replied, “Of course, the last bit is up to us if we’re the ones to find it.” 

He turned back to Chelsey as Paige, Meg, and Peter followed him up the trailhead. 

“We’ll be back as fast as we can.”

To Chelsey’s surprise, Paige and Meg came down the hill about twenty minutes later. Following a few paces behind came the rest of the crew, including Peter and Costa with the mysterious chest.

“You made it down, huh,” she called as they reached him on the beach. “Something could still happen between now and when we get back to the ship.”

“I never pegged you for a pessimist, Chelsey,” Costa called back.

“I was only being cautious,” she sighed.

A bolt of lightning struck down on the beach a few yards away.

“And perhaps I was right.”

“Well, what good does that serve when you’ll be just as dead as the rest of us?” Peter demanded.

Two more bolts fell and the clouds turned dark.

“Son of a bitch!” exclaimed Peter, the drizzle of rain falling on his hair as lightning struck again, only without under.

“GOOD AFTERNOON, STRANGERS,” boomed a voice. “YOU HAVE COME TO THIS ISLAND IN SEARCH OF A TREASURE, AND YOU HAVE FOUND IT. THERE IS NO TURNING AWAY NOW. HOWEVER, IF ONE OF YOU WRETCHED SOULS DOES NOT MAKE A SACRIFICE FOR TRUE LOVE BEFORE SEPTEMBER THE THIRD YOUR CREW WILL FACE IMMINENT DEATH.”

Another bolt of lightning struck the sky and light returned, though it all seemed a little darker than before. Rain continued to fall, with intermittent thunder in the distance.

“Do you think that was real?” Chelsey asked.

“I would air on the side of caution,” replied Paige.

“But what does airing on the side of caution mean with this?” asked Peter. “And what the hell is true love anyway?”

“There are spirits in these islands, Costa explained. “Perhaps it is their work, protecting the island and dealing with magic.”

“Well if that’s true they could very well be playing a trick on us,” said Peter. “Not to mention blaming things on magic isn’t all too reasonable of a thing to-”

“None of this is reasonable,” Meg scoffed. “Not in the way we know it. But there’s a campfire over on the north side of the island. perhaps those people know something.”


	2. The Campfire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The pirate crew encounters three shipwreck survivors

Kit Harper knew the Eastern Ocean was vast and dangerous. He did not, however, imagine herself stranded on an island with his boyfriend Balthazar and Balthazar’s flatmate, Freddie.

“Is there anything else to eat besides fish?” Freddie asked, brushing away a few strands of ginger hair from her face.

“There’s plenty of fruit on the island,” Kit replied. “The issue is that it’s prone to storms so people don’t come here much.”

“So will no one rescue us?” asked Freddie.

“Well, there’s a better chance someone will if we keep the fire going.”

They turned around to see Balthazar emerging from the forest with some wood for the fire.

“Did you see anything in the forest?” Kit asked. “Other signs of life?”

“Not really,” Balthazar answered. “Is the fish ready?”

“I suppose so,” said Freddie. “But we’ll have to use leaves as plates.”

Balthazar shrugged. though small, pale and wiry, he was probably the most tenacious of the three shipwreck survivors, and for the past three days had been collecting wood to keep the fire going. He almost enjoyed island life, imagining himself the hero of one of his favorite childhood adventure stories, but after two days the limited food options and intermittent thunder soured his feelings toward the place.

“Well, now that the fish is done, should I get some water from the stream with our pot from the lifeboat?” asked Freddie.

“That would be helpful,” said Kit.

She turned to get the pot, but as she picked it up, the sound of footsteps was heard nearby, followed by unintelligible conversations that gradually grew louder.

“So there _are_ people here,” said Kit.

“I don’t know if I’d trust them, though,” Balthazar replied. “Or if they mean well by us.”

“I don’t know either,” sighed Kit.

The crowd they had heard earlier made their way to the campfire minutes later, a tall, pale man with dark curly hair and a mustache at the front followed by a slightly shorter, more muscular blonde man, a brunette girl, and a crew of similarly dressed young men and women.

“Good afternoon, strangers,” the taller man said. “We landed about a mile up the shore from you this afternoon but we were a little hesitant to keep sailing as there might be another storm. Perhaps we may spend the night with you and set sail in the morning?”

“Where are you headed?” asked Kit. “We ourselves were going to Adeline when our ship crashed.”

“Well, we are headed to San Carlos at the moment, so you’ll have to find another ship once we get there, but until then you can sail with us once the storm subsides so long as you can give us a little bit of food in return.” he held out her hand. “Costa.”

“Kitso,” Kit said. “And my boyfriend Balthazar and his friend Freddie.”

“Pleased to meet you,” he said. “Is there any fish for us?”

“I don’t believe so,” Balth replied. “Though there should be plenty of mangoes in the trees around here.”

“That’s alright,” sighed the brunette girl. “And we hopefully will not need shelter. We’re just here until the storm ends.”

“You could catch your own fish,” suggested Kit. “There’s a lifeboat over there that we got here with.”

“I don’t think we’ll be going out in this kind of weather,” she sighed, “but thanks for the offer. We’re just waiting for the storm to subside so we can keep sailing. Mangoes will be fine I suppose.”

“Well then, help yourself,” said Kit. “There should be a few piles of them over there. Probably enough, really. We were saving them but if we leave tonight I suppose we don’t particularly need them.”

“Thank you,” said the woman. “My name’s Meg.”

“What’s the time?” asked Freddie.

Meg looked up at the sky still dense with clouds.

“Should be about five, my dear,” she replied, “though one can’t tell for sure in this weather.”

“Is there lightning nearby?” Freddie asked.

“I don’t believe so,” Meg answered. “It was far sharper earlier. Hopefully, the storm ends soon so there’ll be some daylight to get us started.” she sat down by the fire next to Freddie and Balthazar. “In the meantime, I’ll eat my mango.” She smiled at Freddie. “So, where are you from?”  
“We’re from Santa Maria Magdalena,” said Freddie. 

“Interesting. I would have assumed you were from Castlefield or St. Thomas.”

“It’s where my uncle’s from,” explained Freddie. “Castlefield. He moved to Santa Maria when he was young. Are you from there?”

Meg nodded.

“Were you headed to San Carlos for trading, then?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, then who do you work for?”

“I don’t think you’d know him unless you lived there,” answered Meg.

“Oh, I see.” Freddie took a bite of fish. the meat was tender, but a bit wet since rain had collected in the broad leaf she used as a dish. “Care for a little?” she asked Meg. 

“Oh, of course,” Meg chuckled and pulled out a small knife, cutting off a piece of the fish and leaf. “Would you care for me to get you a mango?”

“Sure, I suppose.”


End file.
